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bear-notes — Claude Code skill: what it does, how to install

Manages Bear notes on macOS through the grizzly CLI to create notes, search tags, and append text directly from your agent.

Install into Claude Code · Skills CLI (Vercel) All methods and platforms ↓
npx skills add openclaw/openclaw --skill bear-notes -a claude-code
Open on GitHub

What bear-notes does

The skill connects your agent to the Bear app on macOS using the grizzly CLI. It creates notes with tags, finds entries via open-tag, opens documents by ID, and appends text. Bear returns data in JSON format when running with --enable-callback.

It runs only on macOS. The Bear app must be open and running. You also need the grizzly binary installed from github.com/tylerwince/grizzly/cmd/grizzly@latest. Commands like tags and add-text require an API token from Bear's Help menu, saved to ~/.config/grizzly/token.

This skill suits developers keeping project notes in Bear on Mac. Without the Bear app, it does nothing.

What it helps with

  • create tagged notes in Bear from the command line
  • append text to an existing Bear note by ID
  • find notes by tag using grizzly
  • retrieve all Bear tags in JSON format

Example prompts for the agent

  • Create a Bear note titled Meeting with the tag work
  • Append this log to the Bear note with ID NOTE_ID
  • List all tags from Bear in JSON format

How to install bear-notes

1Skills CLI (Vercel)

npx skills add openclaw/openclaw --skill bear-notes -a claude-code

2Manually: put the files in place

~/.claude/skills/bear-notes/SKILL.md

Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/bear-notes/

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Questions about bear-notes

How do I install bear-notes in Claude Code?

Run npx skills add openclaw/openclaw --skill bear-notes -a claude-code in your terminal. You will also need to install the grizzly binary via Go.

What does bear-notes do?

It uses the grizzly CLI to create, read, search, and update notes inside the Bear app on macOS.

Why do I need a Bear API token and where is it stored?

A token is required for operations such as add-text and reading tags. Copy it from Bear under Help -> API Token, then save it to ~/.config/grizzly/token.

Source text

SKILL.md · MIT
---
name: bear-notes
description: "Create, search, and manage Bear notes via grizzly CLI."
homepage: https://bear.app
metadata:
  {
    "openclaw":
      {
        "emoji": "🐻",
        "os": ["darwin"],
        "requires": { "bins": ["grizzly"] },
        "install":
          [
            {
              "id": "go",
              "kind": "go",
              "module": "github.com/tylerwince/grizzly/cmd/grizzly@latest",
              "bins": ["grizzly"],
              "label": "Install grizzly (go)",
            },
          ],
      },
  }
---

# Bear Notes

Use `grizzly` to create, read, and manage notes in Bear on macOS.

Requirements

- Bear app installed and running
- For some operations (add-text, tags, open-note --selected), a Bear app token (stored in `~/.config/grizzly/token`)

## Getting a Bear Token

For operations that require a token (add-text, tags, open-note --selected), you need an authentication token:

1. Open Bear -> Help -> API Token -> Copy Token
2. Save it: `echo "YOUR_TOKEN" > ~/.config/grizzly/token`

## Common Commands

Create a note

```bash
echo "Note content here" | grizzly create --title "My Note" --tag work
grizzly create --title "Quick Note" --tag inbox < /dev/null
```

Open/read a note by ID

```bash
grizzly open-note --id "NOTE_ID" --enable-callback --json
```

Append text to a note

```bash
echo "Additional content" | grizzly add-text --id "NOTE_ID" --mode append --token-file ~/.config/grizzly/token
```

List all tags

```bash
grizzly tags --enable-callback --json --token-file ~/.config/grizzly/token
```

Search notes (via open-tag)

```bash
grizzly open-tag --name "work" --enable-callback --json
```

## Options

Common flags:

- `--dry-run` - Preview the URL without executing
- `--print-url` - Show the x-callback-url
- `--enable-callback` - Wait for Bear's response (needed for reading data)
- `--json` - Output as JSON (when using callbacks)
- `--token-file PATH` - Path to Bear API token file

## Configuration

Grizzly reads config from (in priority order):

1. CLI flags
2. Environment variables (`GRIZZLY_TOKEN_FILE`, `GRIZZLY_CALLBACK_URL`, `GRIZZLY_TIMEOUT`)
3. `.grizzly.toml` in current directory
4. `~/.config/grizzly/config.toml`

Example `~/.config/grizzly/config.toml`:

```toml
token_file = "~/.config/grizzly/token"
callback_url = "http://127.0.0.1:42123/success"
timeout = "5s"
```

## Notes

- Bear must be running for commands to work
- Note IDs are Bear's internal identifiers (visible in note info or via callbacks)
- Use `--enable-callback` when you need to read data back from Bear
- Some operations require a valid token (add-text, tags, open-note --selected)

© openclaw · MIT · openclaw/openclaw

See also

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